I used to get migraines when weather fronts came through. Blizzards and hurricanes in particular, in fact. Here in SoCal, the weather is less of a trigger. Even when a Santa Ana comes, I don't typically get a migraine for that, nor for when we get the winter "pineapple express" (the "atmospheric river" that gives us months of rain at a time).
Perimenopause - @kateinpdx - I feel ya. Before menopause, I used to get 3 migraines a month minimum: one at ovulation, one when my period started, and one when my period ended. To boot, I had endometriosis. For me, menopause has been a blessing. When I think back on my life and how sick I felt most of the time - between the endo, the migraines and autoimmune issues, I realized that it's only in menopause that I feel well most days, up until that most days I felt like crap. In retrospect these issues kept me from living the life I wanted to live. I lost jobs because of too many sick days more than a few times. So what you might want to look into is BHRT - Bioidentical Hormone Replacement Therapy. I've been on it for 10 years, and for me it has ameliorated many of my issues and I believe it helped me dodge a couple of reproductive cancer bullets that run in my family. It's expensive and a fair amount of work, but totally worth it. My doc calls progesterone "the slayer of migraines". It does help to bump up the progesterone on migraine days. And the BHRT as a whole smoothed my transition - no hot flashes or night sweats, less bladder incontinence, less moodiness, etc. And yes, for me, wine and chocolate are verboten, and some kinds of wine actually trigger migraine for me.
@bluebelle - this is all conjecture on my part, but it makes one wonder, doesn't it? For you, I'm kinda feeling like you might need to alter your caffeine intake. If that's not part of your daily routine, maybe have some green tea. If you're a big coffee person, maybe taper it down by using black tea instead.
I forget who discussed doing an energy cord disconnection from the base of the skull (@vestralux? was it you?), anyone who has that capability, I say go for it. For me, my migraine pain emanates from the absolute center of my brain and goes outward, I can feel it swelling against my skull a bit. I've never had encephalitis (and I don't have Lyme), but friends who have tell me their pain was similar. So I have no idea how to disconnect that...
Lastly, I'll re-list what works for me, without specifics, all stuff to play around with as your body allows:
Aleve, Progesterone, Magnesium, Taurine, Cannabis, Caffeine (via Mexican Coke and green tea), Benadryl, Binaural Beats music, peppermint oil, lavender oil, dark room. And three I forgot earlier that are ridiculous and specific to me, but fun to try anyway: organic potato chips dipped in sriracha sauce (with the Coke, of course), Pho noodle soup (also with sriracha).
And here's my list of what I avoid when a migraine is happening:
Estrogen (as Estriol), wine, chocolate, dairy, beans, nuts, chamomile, sunlight, loud noise, looking at screens, reading.
I used to get migraines about once a month but they have almost completely disappeared since I started daily energy clearing and meditation. Since the beginning of 2018 I've only had two migraines, one when I was weaning myself off of some medication, and the second one about a month ago which (I just got the message) was triggered by Covid-19 fear being emanated by the collective.
My migraines are quite consistent in that I get 30 minutes of "warning" with a progressive aura that eventually makes it impossible to see. The aura then quickly fades as the headache and nausea roll in like a thunderclap. I've found three things that help reduce the migraine: high levels of caffeine, intense cardio exercise and a "prescription" level of ibuprofen (800mg). If I can do one or more of those things during the aura phase, the headache phase usually downgrades to 'just' a regular low level headache and I can still function.
A good Magnesium supplement (I take one that blends threonate, glycerinate, and taurate) usually helps me get rid of a bad headache. Cutting down on screen time and reading definitely helps too.
For the past two weeks I've had some nights where I've felt a migraine coming on -- more of a sick headache but without intense pain (if that makes sense)
And, @deetoo -- your words perfectly explain my experience, too. Nearly a week of a "sick" headache without intense pain. And fatigue.
Can't find a clear cause, either. (I'd say stress, but I've been stressed since 2016, so at this point that's par for the course! ? )
This is a great thread.
@deetoo and all, I've also had sick headaches this week. That's a good way to say it. Like a pre-migraine where my body feels unwell and the light sensitivity starts, but it's not an actual migraine yet.
I live in Oregon and right now we do not seem to have a weather system coming in, which is also a trigger for me.
I think the "weather system" we are having is the winds of change you mentioned. That has also come to me in meditation. Winds and flooding.
It's such a relief to talk to others having this experience too!
Just popping back here to say, I still don't feel well, took a 2 hour nap (with Tess glued to my side)... still very wobbly. What's odd is no real head pain... By luck, my French teacher cancelled our Zoom class for today (that was a big relief).
This is a great thread. Thank you, @Laura! I had migraines as a young child, and while my mother and siblings didn't think it was real, my father knew what I was going through because he had had them as a child. So I appreciated his sympathy and understanding.
The migraines affected my vision. We didn't use the term ocular, but I suppose that is what they were. I'd see a wave-like tremble in my field of vision, and that would signal that a day-long bout of suffering was coming. I'd get worse within 30 minutes, threw up, and would have to lie down in a darkened room. I went through this all through the elementary school years. My father assured me that I'd grow out of them which thank God I did with puberty. I feel for those of you who get them.
Now I just get simple headaches, often in the morning, and especially on those low pressure weather days. Also if I eat too much sugar the night before. I rarely drink, but if I do, I get a royal headache later.
When I studied a little Chinese medicine, I got an understanding of yin and yang energies in the body. It helped me with the headaches which I came to see as an extreme yin condition.
Alcohol and sugar are very yin. So too much of either gives me a royal headache the next morning. Yes, I know that alcohol also dehydrates you, which can contribute to the headache. But it is also a yin issue.
Also alcohol affects the kidneys and the kidney meridian runs right through the eyes. So no surprise that too much yin gives me pain in the eyes. I noticed how George W Bush, a recovered alcoholic, squints badly, probably from years of drinking. I bet he suffers from headaches too.
Exercise, which is yang-izing, is a great remedy from too much yin. Also eating more yang helps, which I believe in Ayurvedic terms, is more alkaline. Heat is also yang-izing. That's why the Japanese heat their Sake wine. When I drink hot sake, I don't wake up the next morning with a headache.
So while it may not be true for you, the moral of my headache story is vigorous exercise and stay off the sugar, no alcohol or drugs (all very yin) except for the occasional hot sake.
I remember getting headaches before I was in kindergarten. My mother didn't believe me either. Even in adulthood she would tell me to stop complaining about my "sinus headaches". She used to get clusters, but was always in denial and also attributed her headaches to "sinus trouble". Oy vey.
I've had to actually cut out all exercise this week, anything that dilates blood vessels in any way causes me more pain. Hoping to get back to a Zoom dance class tomorrow...
I've been wondering lately if people who suffer migraines have heightened intuition. I read something recently, very interesting, that I had never read before. The article said that many people who suffer them have vivid flashbacks of past experiences.
Back in 1989 after the San Fran quake that year, I watched an interview with a woman who was an earthquake psychic. She sensed earthquakes before they happened and she had sensed that quake before it happened. She told the interviewer that headaches were one of the symptoms she had before an earthquake. They asked her how she was feeling during the interview and her eyes started twitching and she said he had a headache -- I never forgot that part. lol
My daughter suffered 60 days one year in high school were she had migraines and needed to miss school. Most ended up being from an concussion she had had 18 months before the migraines happened. The remaining still happen on the first day of her monthly cycle. We solved the issue stemming from the concussion headaches after finding a DO who was a neuromuscular skeletal specialist and did neuromuscular manipulations on her for over a year. It was amazing to see her heal when no other doctor could help her out.
I can get occasional migraines, but haven't recently. I do have a headache now, but that is from muscle tension. I moved my daughter into a new apartment today...all day.
I have so much to say about migraines I don't know where to start. ugh.
I will share my story at some point. It's long.
I had to lay down again this afternoon. I am tentatively able to say I am feeling better, fingers crossed. This was a bad one.